Beautiful Stranger
by Dollhousegirl
Summary: The Volturi have a secret school, in which they teach young girls how to act like them without turning. Volturi's Studies of Educational Graces. Marni is a fourteen year old who is thrown into the school as an unwilling bargaining chip for her father. As she refuses surrender and demands her freedom, she is forced to learn a lot more from the school then just beauty. Alec/OC.
1. Prologue

_**Beautiful Stranger**_

**P**_**rologue**_

_Many years prior, centuries in fact, the three brothers of the Volturi-rulers of all their kind in their own right- pondered amongst themselves one day,_

What makes us so beautiful?

_Now most who were asked this question would immediately answer the same thing;_

"_Tis their species. Yet another envied addition to their graceful motion, lovely haunting voices, and inhuman strength."_

_However as they continued to ponder over the simply answered question, another quickly formed inside their minds;_

Were their gifts something that could be taught?

_They wondered if their lesser gifts could be taught, and not only be passed through the immortal change. This new idea burrowed its way into their heads, and planted its seeds deep within._

_At last, their curiosity, unsatisfied without answers and ever lingering, won out. And the new idea's seed grew and grew until its fruits blossomed and deepened their color, tempting them ever more so to harvest and produce a new creation._

_And so they did; they created a school, special and secret-even from their subjects outside the castle, where only a select few of their servants' mortal daughters attended. _

_The young ladies were far more than willing to learn from these gods and goddesses among men, in hopes of becoming just like them, and some hoped to be even better._

_After years of this elaborate experiment, they found neither results to completely disprove nor prove their ideas about the matter._

_However, this school brought forth more opportunities then they anticipated; Once they graduated, their graceful beauty and minds (at least compared to others of their race) won them the best husbands that were easily swayed to return the favor to their tutors._

Who wouldn't desire these accomplished and almost perfect copies of themselves?

_These unexpected rewards only increased with time as women's rights did; No longer would they have to wait for these flighty girls to choose one betrothed among the many to gain more influence in our world. _

_And even as they lessened their restraints for the selective entry, their school remained well ordered and still a great secret from their subjects and even their allies._

_Yet even as their selection grew less specific, their rules and restrictions on the students themselves only become more intense._

_And thus is the tale that tells of the birth of the Volturi's Studies of Educational Graces; a school that offers rewards that outweigh all the silver and gold that can be earned there._

_Yet, threatens its students with punishments worse far worse than death…_


	2. Chapter I The Second Daughter

**C**_**hapter **_**I  
T**_**he **_**S**_**econd **_**D**_**aughter**_

"Aro! Be rational! I have always done well! I've been a great worker for you and your race!"

"Yes," Aro nodded with false sympathy, "However, that's the key word isn't it? _Been_, as in _past_ tense. Your services have degraded themselves from greatly satisfying, to impressively tedious."

The man named Evans' face fell, during which, Aro looked to both his brothers before continuing.

"Slowly, but surely. It truly is a pity, now I mean that sincerely, you used to have so much talent Michael."

"However, we can acquire better talent elsewhere." Caius said, "And with much better prices."

"No! No! Please, I'll do better! I swear on my life!"

"That sort of gamble has already been placed before Michael, and unfortunately we must collect."

"Please Aro! I'll work harder!"

"Empty promises." Marcus said.

Aro nodded, "Felix?"

In a moment, Felix was beside Evans, grabbing his arms as he motioned for Demitri to come over.

"No! Please! I-I… I have children Aro! A wife! You know that! I have to be there for them!" Evans pleaded as he struggled helplessly against the two vampires.

Aro looked at Evans with peaked interest; noticing his expression, Marcus said,

"Aro we are not in a position to make exceptions."

However, Aro was deaf to his brother's warning and quickly raised his hand to cease all action as he stepped closer to Evans.

"How many children do you have again Mr. Evans?"

Evans pulled himself free of Felix and Demitri's yielding arms as he replied,

"Seven. I have five daughters, and my two youngest boys, twins."

Aro nodded, his intrigue clearly progressing, "Quite a family." He extended his hand, "Might I see?"

Evans shook his head vigorously, "We have an agreement about that-"

"Oh of course! Of course." Aro agreed, "Yet, might I assume you have pictures of your family?"

Evans hesitated slightly before reaching into his pocket, once he retrieved his Iphone he handed it to Aro.

He flipped through to pictures quickly until he settled on one that caught his interest.

The photo was of three young girls; the one on the far left was a fair-skinned girl with long ginger-red hair, blue eyes, and appeared to be about eighteen or so.

The youngest-looking of the girls had pale skin with rosy cheeks, chestnut brown hair, blue eyes, and dimples that showed with her big smile.

She was being picked up by a teenage-looking girl with the same pale skin (same dimples as well), but her cheeks weren't as rosy and her eyes were a greener shaded blue. Her hair was long and dark brown.

"Mr. Evans, tell me about these girls; names and ages will do." Aro said cheerfully.

Evans nodded with an audible gulp and took a quick look at the photo.

"That's Loraine, my eldest." He said pointing to the redheaded girl, then pointed to the teenage girl, "And that's Marni hugging Darcelle."

"How old are they?"

"Lor is twenty, Marni just turned fourteen, and Darcelle is almost ten. They are my first wife's children."

Aro thought to himself a moment, a process which ended just before he smiled widely.

"Mr. Evans, would you mind speaking with me in private?"

"Why?"

"I have an offer to discuss, it could save your job, among other things…"

Evans' face became whiter as he nodded to Aro and followed him to his private office.

_*A few minutes later*_

Aro returned to the throne room alone but seemingly triumphant, holding a small piece of paper in his hand.

"Aro, what have you done?" Marcus asked.

"I've made arrangements for a new student, my brothers." He turned Jane and Alec, 'Jane, make the proper adjustments in the dorms."

Jane nodded dutifully and sped off to her task, Aro then nodded to Alec.

"Alec, please fetch our new girl. Take Chelsea with you for back-up."

Alec nodded, taking the photo from his master.

"Her name, master?"

Aro smiled and said simply,

"Marni Evans."

Alec nodded as he took another look at the hand drawn picture of the dark haired girl.


	3. Chapter II Running In Darkness

**C**_**hapter**_** II  
R**_**unning**_** I**_**n**_** D**_**arkness**_

Hi, I'm Marni Evans. No it's not short for anything, and no I wasn't named after the dead mother in "Repo! The Genetic Opera" but I'd like to pretend I was.

Quick back story: I live with my mother and eldest sister Loraine (who is my tutor for homeschooling) in a town that is an hour from the city that never sleeps. Yet it's empty silence tells me it does nothing but sleep. My first little sister Darcelle is in primary custody of my father who left about six years ago when I was eight. Counting Darcelle, I have five younger siblings; Darcelle my full sister, and my half siblings six year old Jillian, four year old Grace, and the two year old twins Joseph and Kyle.

I think I got it all in there-Oh wait! The Corporate Church! I go to a church that is so lifeless and strict it should have a sign that says: Get In. Say A Prayer. Sing A Song. Give Us A Dollar. Get Out.

_Now_ I've covered everything…

So now that we've got that out of the way we can continue onwards TO!

The suburbs! AHHHHH!

To be more specific, my house, where I was hanging out with Loraine who was looking out the window in frustration.

"You come in the middle of the night, we have a lot of fun, you make me unable to see straight when I drive home, and then in the morning you just _leave!_ How do you think that makes me feel, snow?!" She cried in exasperation.

I laughed lowly at her words and she said dramatically, "What my pain is amusing to you?"

"Oh entirely." I admitted, smiling as I continued to read my book.

"Bitch." She said, trying hard not to smile.

"Whore."

"Slut."

"Prostitute."

"Virgin."

"_Right_ back at 'acha sis." I said nonchalantly.

She smiled, pausing for dramatic effect, and said back in her dramatic voice, "No comment."

We both finally laughed and then continued with what each of us was doing. I got bored of my book quickly and decided to shut it, then looked out the window to see what the weather was actually like.

But what caught my eye, instead of the weather, was a boy just standing across the street.

He had shaggy brown hair that seemed to hang slightly over his eyes, full lips, probably sixteen or so, and extremely pale skin that stuck out in contrast with his hair color.

Try as I might though, I couldn't see his eye color because of the distance, all I could guess was that they seemed to be dark, but that was just a guess.

I looked away from the window, not wanting to appear like a stalker or something- contrary to popular belief, my weird tendencies are purely coincidental, and I do try to keep them fairly under wraps.

I paced around the room, having nothing better to do, and realized how hungry I was; mom was generally home by now and we'd go out for a meal or something.

I ran up to Lor's room where she was currently surfing the internet on her Ipad, and asked, "Hey, are you hungry? I'm starving, and mom's not back yet."

"Oh yeah, we'll go out, but Mom had a last minute appointment."

"Oh, are we grabbing something for her?"

"No." Loraine said, "Dinner appointment, boss wanted her to take notes, apparently the woman they're working with is very professional and scary so he hoped a fellow member of her own gender would serve to loosen her up."

"Well, mom always did have a trust worthy face, just like Grandma says."

"Yup." She said, not looking up, "Just go and heat up the car, I'll be down in a minute."

I nodded and walked off.

I took the keys off the counter and headed for the car, I looked up to see the boy still out there, and this time he was staring at me.

I stared back for a minute but then quickly got into the car, I couldn't put my finger on it but something about this guy was scaring me a little.

I sat in the car listening to some music, peeking in the rear-view mirror every so often to see if he was still there. And he wasn't after the second time I looked, so I chose to ignore the situation.

Loraine actually got into the car within almost seconds of my entrance, and we drove off to Mickey D's (McDonald's) whilst rocking out to Florence and The Machine.

My sister's car was a mess, filled from top to bottom with costumes and make-up cases-she's into acting like the rest of us- and even some of her school books.

I'll tell ya, Loraine is the only person I know who can change her entire outfit from head to toe (including pantyhose) while driving, and she drives stick!

As we waited in the drive through, I relaxed into my seat, listening to blasting music that was oddly soothing to me. I looked out my window and saw the boy again in the parking lot!

I blinked a few times, but he was still there! Clear as day! But when I rubbed my eyes slightly and looked again, he was gone, in the blink of an eye.

_Okay_, I thought to myself, _Now I think I understand why I don't have a great feeling about him._

"Loraine, did you just see a teenage boy in the parking lot here?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, I thought I saw the same guy outside our house today, and I didn't think anything of it, but now I thought I saw him again-"

"You're clearly delusional." She laughed.

"Loraine, I know it's weird and probably just paranoia, but I'm getting kind of creeped out."

She nodded, "Okay. Well, don't read too much into it, and if you see him again anytime soon just tell me and stay in crowded areas. Happy?"

"Very." I laughed slightly.

So that what I did, I ignored it and we went on with our business.

We decided to hit the Barnes & Noble for a while, eating most of our food on our way there. Once we got there we took the food we had left and went in, sitting at a small table and reading some books we picked out.

I picked out a few historical fictions, No Fear Shakespeares, and a good chunk of supernatural fiction. Lor picked out a few True Blood Novels and one Jane Austen (which honestly, I actually read more then she did that day).

After a little while, Lor's cell began to ring, she picked it up and checked to see who it was only to have the phone die in her hand afterwards.

"Damn it! Marni I need to borrow your phone to call mom."

"My cell is at home and dead."

She groaned, "Nevermind, there is a charger in the car, I'll go get it."

"Nah, I'll get it, all this sitting is making me stir crazy."

She nodded and handed me the keys, and I walked out of the library to look for the car.

It was dark out by now, and so finding the dark-colored car in the huge parking lot was proving difficult. I clicked the unlock button every few minutes hoping to hear it but I couldn't.

And then when I was turning a corner, guess who showed up?

_Alright, _I thought, _This is just plain creepy now! I have got to get out of here and find that dang car!_

I took a quick breath and started walking in a different direction then him, still looking for the car but more focused on the boy.

I peered over my shoulder and saw he was a few yards behind me, and keeping up in pace. I quickened my steps and saw he did as well, and then finally I couldn't take it.

_Screw the car! _I thought, _It's not worth this!_

I made a sudden turn to the left and then went into a full run for the entrance of the library again. Once I got to be a few feet away from the entrance I slowed down and took a few deep panting breaths.

I walked forwards to the doors, but suddenly a cold hand came over my mouth, and another pushed my back towards a dark portion of the street. Before I could protest I was being pushed up against the brick wall by the boy, whose eyes-I finally saw- were dark red with a black edge.

I started kicking and screaming, punching and trying to bite his hand, but nothing worked. In fact most of my attempts hurt, and my voice box starting to hurt from trying to make my muffled screams louder in hopes someone would hear.

Suddenly, I felt my throat begin to numb, and my muffled screams quieted without my consent. I felt my face go numb and my eyes began to blur. I tried to push him away again as I blinked my eyes rapidly, but my arms wouldn't move and my vision become blurrier and blurrier until I saw nothing but black.

A few hours-at least I think it was hours- had gone by, and I couldn't feel anything except pressure, the pressure of what I assumed to be my breathing. Feeling that pressure and knowing that I must be still breathing was the only thing that kept me sane, and that was no small feat.

It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying. I had no idea where I was, I had no idea if I could get out, I couldn't even feel my voice work when I tried, not even pressure there to indicate it was still working.

I just sat there alone; focused on making sure I felt that pressure in my stomach to assure me I was alive. However, that was part of how horrifying the experience was, in a way.

But then I began to feel again, and I even began to see!

I managed to move my hands again and rubbed my eyes, and finally my vision returned.

I was in a dark room, only lit by a small fireplace; a dark wooded desk in front of it, and I was currently lying on a green satin couch.

I got up and looked at the clock on the desk that said 12:42 pm, it had been around 11 pm last I checked.

Before I could look through for more things to tell me where I was, a door I hadn't seen in the darkness opened to reveal a man.


	4. Chapter III Binding

**C**_**hapter**_** III  
B**_**inding**_

"Welcome young Marni!" the man said, coming closer to me.

As he stepped into the light of the fireplace, I noticed his red eyes and pale skin like the boy from a while ago. No had to tell me twice to be afraid, however, I tried not to let it show and only showed tense curiosity on my face.

Aside from the unsettling eyes, his air and slowly calculating movements made me feel rather disturbed and unnerved.

Once he got to a certain proximity I took a few steps back, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh! I'm so rude, please excuse me dear." He said, suddenly right in front of me, he began to reach for my hand, "I am Aro-"

I whipped my hand out of his reach before he could get close and backed away again.

"That doesn't answer my question. Actually, I have a better one, where am I?"

Aro smiled and lightly clapped his hands together, a look of contemplation growing on his face.

"Fascinating." He muttered, "Very interesting."

"Where. Am. I?" I said through gritted teeth.

His smiled widened, cheerful and polite; suddenly the lights went on and blinded me for a second, once I was used to the new lighting I took a good look at Aro and then the room.

As I said he had red eyes and pale skin (which proved to be much paler in better light), but he also had long black hair, and wore a pitch black suit that almost blended in with his hair that went a little below his shoulders.

The room itself was big and mostly made of stone, not much furniture besides the desk and couch, only a few large book shelves filled some space. It had no windows, only one door, and one small section of the wall had very old looking tapestries with different kinds of symbols or designs from what seemed to be almost medieval origin- I had noticed a few of them had the fleur de lis as a design, and in each looked older then the last.

With little places to escape and a guy who didn't strike me as 'all there', I felt my heart begin to race faster and faster as if it were ready to jump out of my chest in terror. I took a big gulp, imagining that I was actually swallowing my fear so I could proceed and hopefully get out of this alive- being in a secluded room with guy whose mind seems rather unhinged didn't make a great case for that hope though.

"Would you please sit my dear?" He said, gesturing to the couch as he walked towards the desk.

I shook my head quickly, "No. Trust me I've had quite enough rest for today thank you."

He laughed quietly as he sat in the chair, "Ah yes! Alec's talent is rather…" He took a second as if to choose a word, "Impressive upon the senses, isn't it?"

"I'll be sure to award him with a good kick if I ever see him again."

"Trust me child that would not be in your best interests." He warned gleefully, his index finger ticking back and forth right under his chin.

"Your right, I should be thinking of my best interests, one of which is figuring out why I'm-wherever I am and getting out." I said sternly, though shaking inside as I did so.

He nodded to himself, and once again gestured to the couch; this time I took a seat, hoping to calm myself before my hands started shaking.

"Ms. Evans. For about seven years now, your father Micheal Evans, has been under my-" he laughed a little before continuing, "Well, mine and my brothers', employment."

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, slightly nervous about the answer.

"Unfortunately, his efforts in his work have left quite a bit to be desired. And in exchange for a chance to prove himself useful to us again, he allowed us to bring you here, to Volterra Italy."

I felt my eyes widen, and my mouth started to do the same before I took in a deep breath to calm down.

I'd never had a great relationship with my dad, hell barely even a relationship to begin with, but I couldn't believe he would sell me out to these people whoever the hell they were. What person does that to their child?

"What am I here for? Bribery? Are you gonna keep me here until he does a better job? What does he even do for you? The last I checked my father was an FBI agent!" I shouted in confusion and frustration.

Aro's eyes moved to the ground for a minute, then looked back up at me, "He is an FBI agent, that has not changed, he does however, also work for _us_."

I gave him a look to continue, "You are here to go to school Ms. Evans. Among other things, we run a sort of- academy, for young girls like you. And along with basic and advanced schooling, we shall teach you to be absolutely irresistible. Your face will draw the eyes of everyone to you, your mannerisms and movements will enchant them, and your speech and knowledge will put the world under your spell."

I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing, "Are you kidding me?! I'm brought to a finishing school?! For what?! Because my dad wanted to keep his side job?!" I shouted.

"He wanted to keep his life."

I paused, "What?"

Aro finally stood up.

"You forgot one important question my dear: What are we?" He began walking towards me, I stood up from the couch and backed away, "To which the answer my dear is, vampires."

"Your good father keeps our secret from the world. And when his once impressive skill deteriorated, he asked for another chance, but we the Volturi- practically royal monarchs in our world, do not offer second chances."

I asked in barely a whisper, "Then why am I here?"

Aro's smile was wider than ever, "Because he was so desperate, he allowed us a selection of one of his children to train here and to bring up a great lady. With a little persuasion from our dear Chelsea, your mother had this brought to her attention-not everything though, of course."

I just continued to stare at him, my heart dropping; _this couldn't be real! _I thought, _Mom wouldn't do this!_

"Ms. Brandon was so concerned for you, Ms. Evans. You'd been acting so detached lately, and your sister would do nothing to help you. Your friends were never around, and you rarely went outside. Very serious indeed, and so, my Chelsea assured your mother on my behalf that we would be delighted to help her sad little daughter."

My breath staggered, and I no longer was concerned about showing fear on my face. I was trembling all over, and I wanted so much to run out of the room in hopes I could escape, but of course I knew it could never be that easy.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't try.

I suddenly bolted straight for the door, and I felt suspicion come upon me as I realized Aro wasn't trying to stop me. And when I opened the door, it revealed two men with the same pale skin and bright red eyes.

One of them was very tall- even for me at 5'3 ¼" it only added to the fact he seemed to be the size of a mountain in muscle, and had short brown hair.

The other was tall as well but more on average in that sense, and what he lacked muscle also in comparison to the former he made up for in his air of high class sophistication, he made me unsettled almost as much as Aro but in a different way. He had much shorter hair that seemed spiked and had blond highlights.

As they both stared at me intently, and began to slowly come inside the room I said to myself, "Ohhhh, I am so screwed."

"Not yet Marni." I turned to face Aro, "You have a choice here. You can cooperate or-"

I heard a growl from the taller guy, Aro continued, "Or I'm afraid we must keep our secret."

Well, seeing as I had no death wish- though it did piss me off that I chose this, I decided to cooperate and nodded to Aro as assurance to my choice.

Aro started laughing, which made me jump back from how creepy that sound was.

"Fantastic!" He smiled, "Now, let us air out some details shall we?"

I nodded hesitantly, but I took a deep breath and put on my best stone face as we all walked over to the desk.

Aro pulled out from a drawer a large old-looking book; it was dark brown-almost black and had no distinguishing characteristics outside of how thick it was. He set it on the desk and opened it to the center, and after flipping through further ahead a few pages, he found what he was looking for.

It had been opened to one page that was completely filled with tiny print, and the other page was completely blank.

Within a second, Aro held out a pen to me and said politely, "Please sign at the top."

I looked to the other page that had writing on it, and saw it was filled with names and dates, but some of which had more dates then the others which all seemed neatly lined up.

I signed my name at the top of the blank page: _Marni K. Evans_.

"Now date of birth." Aro instructed.

_11/8/1999._

"And finally, today's date. November 12th, dear."

"What are these dates?" I asked, gesturing to the extra dates on the full page.

"Death dates my dear." Aro said with a smile, "Please continue."

I stopped myself from showing any fear, and signed-conveniently writing it in such a way that there would be no room for 'death dates'. If I was to be here as a basic hostage, I was sure as hell going to have as much independence as I wanted, and this was my albeit small way of showing my intention.

Aro seemed almost amused at this and gave a small nod, 'Welcome my dear, to the Volturi's Studies of Educational Graces."

I nodded slightly, still holding onto my cold expression and replied, "Thank you."

"Alec." He said in a whisper.

In a matter of milli-seconds, Alec was standing right beside Aro, his face cold and calculating.

"You." I muttered with disdain.

"Me." Alec said with only slightly peaked interest, then turned to Aro and asked, "You called Master?"

"Please escort our new student to the dorms."

"Of course." He consenting happily, then turned to me with a polite but cold expression, "This way Ms. Evans."

I walked ahead of him towards the door, "Till next time Ms. Marni." Aro called as we left.

Alec seemed to be ahead of me in the blink of an eye, and I accidentally ran into his left shoulder, kicking him slightly in the heels as I did so. It hurt a lot more than I expected it to, I felt like I had run into a brick wall.

"Ow!"

"You should wait for me to lead you next time." He said without care.

"I hope there isn't a next time that I am in the same room as you, let alone in a conversation." I said stubbornly.

He didn't respond and continued to lead me on towards the dorms. We were silent most of the way, which took God knows how many halls and different rooms we passed, until finally he spoke.

"I firmly suggest that you keep any distasteful quips to yourself during your stay. We are not likely to forgive easily."

"You also weren't likely to give second chances, but that was clearly revoked for my father."

He suddenly turned around, with the unfortunate side effect of me running into him again-but most of the collision of feet because of distance we had made earlier. And he replied,

"Would you like _that _to be revoked?"

I remained silent, and looked at him in an almost challengingly. We stared at each other for a good minute, until he opened the door right next to use, all without breaking eye contact.

He gestured for me to go in first and I did immediately; the room was a little smaller then Aro's office, completely made of white marble, also without windows, ¾ of the room was filled perfectly placed queen sized beds that were dark-wooded like the desk from earlier but had plain white coverings, the last quarter seemed to be an extravagant changing room.

There were a few white modesty curtains in the corner, an long island-counter with all kinds of make-up and beauty products-some of which I couldn't even name, a few chairs neatly placed around the counter, most of the wall was basically mirror, and there was a door right where the mirror ended on one side.

I opened the door to see it was a giant walk-in closet, about half the size of the actual room it was connected to. It had several sections with drawers and shelves, and each section held different things- which I found out by seeing names labeled on each section that they were all for each person.

"Come." Alec said, walking past me, "I'll show you where yours is."

I followed him to almost the end of the closet where a few empty spaces were, and one of them had "MARNI EVANS" labeled on it.

It had plenty of room for anything I could possibly, but was empty except for a white dress that hung in the center.

It was a silk petal-skirted dress, it looked like a ball gown. It had a corset top half, and had thick crimped silk straps. And in the front was a blood red jewel that sat in the exact center of the chest.

Beside it on the built in vanity, was a black box with white ribbon. I walked over and gently untied the ribbon, opening it to find a pair of white ballet flats, and a pair of white gloves.

"Your uniform." He said behind me, "You are required to wear them every week day, but you have permission to wear your own clothes on the weekends."

"Do you have something against jeans and a T-shirt?" I was only answered with a glare, "Uncomfortable ball gowns it is."

"Lady O'Leary is coming up here in a few minutes, she will show you your bed, schedule, and answer any othe questions you have. I'll see you tomorrow."

He disappeared in the next second, and I finally took a deep relieved breath, and I let my cold expression go. It was exhausting, and I felt drained and horrified, and depressed, and severely sad all at the same time. I just had no energy left.

I slowly sunk to the ground holding onto the vanity to keep myself steady, until I was lying back against it and taking in deeps breaths.

I had no idea what to do; I knew that I wanted to get out of here, I knew that I wanted to see my mother and my sister again, I wanted to see all of my siblings again.

But I knew that I had no idea how big this place was, what kind of city it was even if I got out, and that these people were vampires that didn't even flinch at the idea of death.

What on earth could I do to get out alive? I had no idea, and right now I was just very scared and confused.

Why would mother agree to this? Heck, why did my father agree to this especially with his better knowledge of this place?

I felt a great sting in my heart, betrayal, and from my own parents.

Loraine would never let this happen, if she had known was happened in the parking lot she never would have let me out of her sight.

I had the same feeling in my chest that you get when you're about to cry, and yet no tears came, only strangled breath.

I looked to my left and saw another door; I managed to shakily pick myself up and headed towards it. As I'd hoped it was a bathroom, and so I rushed over to the sinks and turned on the water, feeling suddenly very thirsty. I scooped up handfuls of water, and just as I was finishing my 13th handful I heard the door open and close.

I quickly splashed a little water on my face to cool down, than wiped it off with my sleeves. I walked out of the bathroom, through the closet and back into the actual room.

A mid-teen-years looking girl wearing an exact duplicate of my uniform was sorting some books on one of the beds. She turned around to see me and I saw what she looked like; she had the classic Italian tan, and medium brown eyes, but she had dark red curls for hair that was held up in a high ponytail.

She wore make-up that heavily defined her almond eye shape, and a fairly bright red lipstick to define her plump small lips. She had a round full face, and a short but thin neck that was made obvious by the gown's design (the straps which seemed to not be actual straps but simple decoration that hung off the shoulders), and also thin arms as well.

She looked slightly startled at first, but a sweet smile formed on her face in the next second, and she nodded her head at me.

"Hello. You must be Ms. Evans. I'm Lady Annie O'Leary."

"Um, Marni. You're a…" I paused to get the next word out properly, "Student here?"

"Yes." She nodded, "I was told to expect you here. Welcome, I assume you've been showed where your uniform is?"

"Um yeah, Alec showed me, he said you'd answer any questions I have?"

She smiled kindly, "Yes. Well, first, your bed is over there." She pointed to the one three down from her's, then walked over to her books and pulled out a sheet of paper, "I have your schedule. Professor Chelsea gave it to me before she left yesterday."

She held out the paper to me and I took it; it had all these different classes and times, and it was so _long_!

Here it is:

**MS. MARNI EVANS – DORM 4**

**MONDAY-WEDNESDAY**

**10:00 AM ALGEBRA I  
11:00 AM DANCE-****BEGINNER  
****12:30 PM DINING ETIQUETTE  
1:15 PM FREE TIME  
1:45 PM SCIENCE  
2:45 PM HISTORY  
3:45 PM CONVERSATION & SPEECH  
4:30 PM ECONOMICS & SOCIAL STUDIES  
5:00 PM HOME ECONOMICS  
6:00 PM LANGUAGE COURSE-****ITALIAN  
****7:00 PM DINING ETIQUETTE REVIEW  
8:00 PM DORM INSPECTION**

**THURSDAY-FRIDAY**

**9:00 AM RULES & GUIDELINES  
10:00 AM ALGEBRA I  
11:00 AM DANCE-****BEGINNER  
****12:30 PM DINING ETIQUETTE  
1:15 PM FREE TIME  
1:30 PM SCIENCE  
2:00 PM HISTORY  
2:45 PM CONVERSATION & SPEECH  
3:15 PM ECONOMICS & SOCIAL STUDIES  
3:45 PM HOME ECONOMICS  
4:45 PM LANGUAGE COURSE-****ITALIAN  
****5:45 PM FREE TIME  
7:00 PM DINING ETIQUETTE REVIEW  
8:00 PM DORM INSPECTION**

This schedule was absolutely ridiculous!

Who on earth could study for all these courses, have adequate sleep, or even maintain decent grades for all these at once?

I may have been homeschooled, but even I knew that regular schools generally began around nine or ten and ended at three. That's about six hours at a regular school, okay that's doable. Even at minimum, the hours of all the classes together on Thursdays and Fridays were still well beyond eight hours!

How on earth could anyone accomplish this?

Annie probably noticed the big vein in my head doing a double take and said, "I know it looks like a lot, but it's not so bad once you're in the classroom, and also the classes get cut down quickly. By the next year you'll only have about six hours of the regular courses and however long your choice courses are."

"Choice courses?" I said with astonishment.

I couldn't even fathom completely all _these _courses by themselves, now they're giving additional ones?

"Additional courses, you choose as many as you want. You're not allowed to enter into any in your first year, but your second year you're required to pick one. Two if you're not a titled student yet."

I shook my head, trying to process all of this, "Okay, I'm probably gonna have a new question after every sentence, so can you just explain it all to me please?"

She laughed slightly and nodded, "Sure. Title Student Exams are going on right now so everyone has off today except the competitors."

***About two hours later***

Annie explained the school to me in great detail, and while I managed to absorb it after a while and I understood what was going on, it got weirder and weirder to me.

Titled students, were apparently the top students; all of the students are referred to as Ms. Such-N-Such, but titled students are referred to as Lady Such-N-Such. While they didn't actively gain anything outside of the title itself, later on it would look extremely good on their record, unless of course their grades dropped and the title was stripped.

To become a titled student, you had to have an exam-which was only open to be taken when the Volturi said, and at best two girls are accepted no matter how many of them aced it. However, you had to really, really master this exam, most of the time no one got titled.

Annie was one of these girls; according to her, since she already spoke Italian (which was a required language because of location) being such herself, and also since her photographic memory helped her studies these outrageous courses were her bread and butter.

Dining Etiquette was basically eating lunch or dinner and being watched on how you 'conducted yourself at the table'. It's a table manners course.

Rules & Guidelines was a class to make sure you knew the rules of the place, which had their very own little blue book that you carried around and never actually used.

This actually does sound like a real school now.

One of the worst parts I learned about this school was that that was a _real _authentic corset on the uniform ball gown.

I found this out once Annie finished explaining most of the regulations and such to me.

"I want to introduce you to some of the girls; they're probably down in the garden by now. I'll help you get ready."

"You know what I'm good, but thanks." I said.

"You have to change if you want to go out, you're only allowed to wear casual clothes on the weekends."

"You're kidding."

She shook her head, "Come on, you'll need some help."

She helped me into the corset and assured me that I didn't have it tied up all the way, but it was still very tight and uncomfortable. She only had it adjusted enough so I was still able to talk-I'm not even kidding that was an actual side-effect of an improperly tied corset!

Like many bored teenagers of 2013, I did once in a while consider the weird ways I could die, to be honest 'death by corset' was not on the list-or in the very least it was at the way, _way _bottom.

Fun Fact: Number 1 on the list was ironically 'killed by vampire'. Go figure, huh?

Well once I finally got changed, Annie tried to insist I refresh my make-up (which was just foundation and now smudged eyeliner) but that's where I officially drew the line, I'd had enough of being beautified if that's what you'd call this.

So she showed me around the school, how each classroom was door to door so I wouldn't have to worry about being late. Showed me the parlor which was generally empty except for when holidays or winter came around. And she also showed me to the garden, where her friends apparently were.

The garden was a large spacious area, and honestly I liked it. It was a walled area sure, but the sun managed to get in even with the 8+ ft. stone walls. It had a fairly small stream that went right through the place, a small stone bridge to get across, a willow tree in one of the four corners, an oak in the center by the wall, all kinds of flowers in different places, and stone benches for people to sit.

It was quite peaceful; I probably could have fallen asleep in this place. That was at least one upside to this whole ordeal.

I noticed now that three girls were on the bridge waving to Annie, I guess these were her friends.

The girl sitting on the edge of the bridge had medium blond hair, fair skin, thin and sharp features, and narrow green eyes.

The other two were standing by her; one of them had chocolate toned skin, straight black hair that reached passed her back, long and full lips that had an amber gloss smeared on them, and eyes that were round and hazel colored.

The last girl had forest green eyes that were small but complimented by her thick black lashes, pale skin and fluffy black hair that reached a little below her shoulders. She had a heart-shaped face and scarily prominent collar bones.

"Ladies, this is Ms. Marni Evans, the new student Master Aro mentioned."

They all nodded their heads politely, the second girl was the first to introduce herself,

"It's nice to meet you, I am Lady Josephine Hanning."

"I am Lady Maria Baker."

The blond hopped off her seat and finally introduced herself, "I'm Lady Elizabeth O'Leary."

Annie turned to me, "My cousin."

I nodded and then smiled to the group, "Nice to meet you all. You guys can call me Marni."

"Alright. But not around the professors-"

"Annie calm down," Josephine turned to me, "Has she given you the 'Welcome Speech'?"

"At the dorm." I replied.

"Right." She nodded, "So she's probably figured that out by now, she doesn't strike me as an idiot."

"Thank you. I appreciate that." I laughed.

Annie shook her head, "I know but-"

"Hey Annie." Elizabeth said, "Let it _go_…"

***About an hour later***

It was rather awkward at first, but then after a little while I was really having fun and getting to know these people, and I really did like them individually as well as collectively!

Annie had to leave halfway through the conversation for a Choice Course, but I kept talking to Elizabeth, Maria, and Josephine.

"So how does the selection process work exactly?" I asked.

Maria answered, "You either have to be a rocket scientist or look like Hally Berry."

"No you don't." Josephine rolled her eyes, "But yeah kind of."

"Aside from our parents making the deals, they pick us girls by either how much potential we have or how pretty we are." Elizabeth explained.

"Why is it all girls?"

"When they first started, apparently girls were considered to be more cooperative, both because of just the time period and because even back then you're rarely gonna find a teenage boy who wants to learn dancing and napkin folding."

"How long do we have to stay here?"

Elizabeth paused, "That depends."

"On what?"

"The deal your dad made. At minimum it's a year, but mostly you're only required to be here through high school depending on your age."

"So once you finish high school they toss you out?"

"Well, if you want. You can stay here for four years of college if you wanted, after that you'd have to go."

"You can take college courses here?"

"And SATs." Maria chimed in.

"How do you put this place on a job application?" I said sarcastically.

"The Volturi have a lot of connections to great schools, even Ivy League. If you stay only for high school and you apply for a college, they can use some connections to forge grades and attendance records for all kinds of private schools and such. They can also do the same for colleges."

"How old are you guys again?" I asked, my head spinning from all this, Annie hadn't explained this part to me.

"Fifteen." Maria answered, followed by Josephine,

"Seventeen."

"Fourteen next month."

"You're thirteen?!"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, I skipped two grades, so I'm a high school sophomore technically. Homeschooled."

"No kidding me too." I smiled.

"Really?" Josephine said.

"Do you like homeschooling better than regular school?" Maria asked.

"I wouldn't know, this is technically the first 'real' school I've ever been to." I said with the fingers.

"Do you like your work?"

"No she doesn't." Elizabeth answered.

"I asked her El."

Elizabeth leaned over to me and whispered, "They won't stop if you answer honestly. Three 'no's tend to get rid of these people."

I snorted and said, "Okay, uh, no I don't."

They both rolled their eyes and Maria said, "Alright we'll stop asking."

"One 'no'. I think I won." I laughed to Elizabeth.

"Beginner's luck." She said, and then mumbled to herself, "Why does that never work for me?"

We all smiled at Elizabeth, until Josephine noticed the clock that hung over the entrance.

"Guys, we've got to get back to the dorms. Curfew is getting close and so is inspection." She said beginning to quickly rush towards the door.

She was soon followed by the other two, whom I tried to race after as best I could with an air-constricting corset.

"There's a curfew?"

"8 pm, we have to get back to the dorms by then and we can leave until nine am."

Like I said, this place gets weirder and weirder to me as time goes by.

The four of us kept running towards the dorms, but they seemed to be more experienced at this, while I had to stop every so often to take a breath. By the time I was able to continue they had gone so far ahead of me I was all by myself.

It took me a few twists and turns, and finally I was lost and frustrated.

"Uh! I just came from there! Where the hell are those dorms?!" I said to myself and I aimlessly walked through the halls.

I looked up and said, "In the big flashy hallway with the marble engraving "DORM ROOMS" on the front in big gold letters." I sighed, "So _this _is why mom double checks my good grades."

I ran straight for the room labeled "DORM IV" and rushed inside, shutting the door behind me. About fifty girls already in the room and lined up perfectly at the foot of their beds turned to look at me, but I did was check for anyone who looked to be in charge.

"Yes." I said when I didn't see anyone who stuck out, "I made it!"

Right then, Alec and a blonde girl who looked vaguely similar to him stepped into view from the closet.

I shut my eyes tightly and said, "And I also won the lottery today; if only I were so lucky."

So I sheepishly walked to the foot of my own bed and kept my eyes on the ground.

"You were right brother, this one will be an interesting addition." The girl said.

_Oh crap there's two of them, _I thought.

"How late was I?" I asked.

The blond girl was suddenly right in front of my face and had an angry tone, "I was not speaking to you, Ms. Evans." Her red eyes narrowed slightly, "You may only speak to your betters when spoken to; manners are very important in this school."

"My mother taught me never to talk about someone as if they were not near when they are."

Her face tensed, and she had a look on her face that clearly was something along the lines of 'It's taking every ounce of self-restraint not to kill you in the blink of an eye right now.'

My recently awakened stubbornness forced me to glare back at her, but my self-preservation made me stop after a minute and look back down at the ground in silence.

"I've seen enough." The girl said, "Until tomorrow girls. Come brother, we should head back to the castle."

I heard her walk out of the room, and I sighed with relief. Then I saw shiny black shoes in my line of sight stand in front of me. Alec's thumb and index finger grabbed the edge of my chin and pushed it up roughly.

I clamped my eyes shut from the slight pain I felt, and kept my head where his fingers placed it. I felt them leave my face and heard his footsteps promptly follow his sister.

I opened my eyes just in time to see Alec glare at me as he close the door, finally leaving.

Everyone seemed to be put a slightly more ease, but gave me strange and slightly terrified looks.

Annie walked up to me right afterwards with a stern look on her face, "I told you to be careful Marni, they don't take kindly to any back talk."

"Yes, I know but I'm not gonna roll on my back and play dead. She was being rude and so I thought I'd return the favor."

Annie's eyes widened, "Professor Jane is one of the most feared Volturi members, so is her brother!"

"Why? What can she do that makes her so feared?" I asked.

Having been subject to Alec's apparent ability, I had a good idea about why _he _was feared, but not so much why Jane was.

"She has the ability to make you feel the most excruciating pain imaginable. She can torture you with her mind!" she said, fear clearly lingering her voice.

My eyes widened; of all the vampires I had to piss off, I managed to piss off two of the most feared ones here.

_Whadda go Marni! _I could practically hear my conscience say, _Whadda go!_

"Does anyone else here have abilities?" I asked.

She nodded, "I don't know them all but, Master Aro has the ability to read every thought you've ever had with the touch of his hand. And I know Master Marcus can sense relationships between any two or more people. There are more but I don't really know about them." She sighed, "Come on, we should get ready for bed."

I followed her mindlessly; all this was a lot of information to get in one day, let alone just a few hours. But what could I do? At least I know Aro didn't manage to touch me, but that' probably be his just deserts if God forbid he ever did manage; sometimes even _I _don't wanna go there.

Annie helped me get out of my uniform and corset, and I did the same for her. I couldn't understand why she needed it though; it seemed to me she was just as skinny without it.

But when I went to change into the nightgown that was laid out on my bed-also pure white, but with a thin red ribbon just below the chest area, I looked in the mirror and saw red and seemingly dented areas around my torso.

I remembered something my mom had told me when she commented on corset popularity in the south: _They mess up the 'equipment' _as she called it.

That sentence was never more real and true to me then it was then.

After a moment or two of staring at my aching torso, I got dressed in my night gown, and went straight to my bed. It was comfy, almost like a giant pillow in and of itself, which I liked, and it was very comforting my now weary bones.

So almost immediately, as I lay down, I fell into a deep and surprisingly peaceful sleep.

***Early Morning***

"Marni! Wake up! You have to get ready for class!" I heard the voice of Annie calling out to me.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes; I looked around the room to see all the girls primping and dressing and collecting their books together.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"About six-thirty." She answered.

"What time does class start again?" I asked confused.

"Well, mine starts at nine today, but your class begins at ten."

I gave her a look of severe disbelief; I could take vampires with abilities, corsets, ridiculous class schedules, and the fact the rumor that these guys sparkled like disco balls in direct sunlight but _this_ is where the line MUST be drawn.

"Get away from me." I said before I dropped my head back onto my pillow.

"Marni you _have _to get up! They are very strict!"

At this point I wasn't listening and I'd already fallen back to sleep. I told myself that I'd get up around eight but six thirty in the morning when my class was at ten was NOT an option.

***A few hours later***

I felt myself finally wake up, and stretched out.

I figured it was probably not that long since I fell back to sleep, so I'd probably have enough time to brush my teeth and get dressed, maybe run a brush through my hair if I had enough time to untangle it.

I sat up and opened my eyes, revealing Alec at the foot of my bed, looking quite pissed off I might add.

"Ah!" I said startled, then groaned, "What are you doing here?"

"Pushing my patience to its limit waiting for you to wake up." He replied in a slight growl.

"Why what time is it?"

"Twelve-fifty."

"Oh my God!" I said hopping out of bed, "Crap! Why didn't anyone wake me?"

"Lady O'Leary tried to wake you but you refused."

"It was six in the morning!" I said running to the closet, "No human should be up at that time getting ready a class four hours away!"

I rushed into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth, then finished quickly and ran to my section of the closet and grabbed my corset.

"Hurry up, you are already treading on thin ice as it is _Ms. Evans._" He shouted through the door, the last part with disdain.

"In a minute! I'm coming!" I shouted back, trying to tie my corset which proved very difficult.

I managed to only tighten it up so that it clung to me like a dress and covered everything, but I could tie it and whenever I tried it started to loosen again.

"Are you ready?" Alec shouted.

"No! I will come out when I am ready!" I shouted back in frustration.

I once again tried to tie the corset, but not having eyes in the back of my head it continued to give me trouble. I grunted in frustration and kept pulling at the strings tightly.

Suddenly the strings were taken from my hands and the corset started to tighten.

"Alec get out!" I yelled, trying to pull away but quite literally attached to him by strings.

"You will refer to me as Professor, _human._" He growled, continuing to pull relentlessly at the strings.

When I tried to say something I yelped from how tightly he was tying the corset, this wasn't like how Annie did it when she gave me room to breathe, and in fact it was far more painful!

He tugged again, tightening them further, and I tried to tell him to stop but I could speak or breathe at all. I weakly tried to reach back my hands to give him a hint but he once again pulled them tighter and I felt the most excoriating pain in my ribs.

I jolted backwards, which only hurt more, and finally his hands dropped the strings and I began to fall to the ground. He caught me, but even then the fall hurt my already pain-filled ribs and I managed to let out a small gasp.

Losing that last bit of air took its toll and my eyes started to see black spots and I passed out.


	5. Chapter IV Black Shadows & Red Cheeks

**C**_**hapter **_**IV  
B**_**lack**_** S**_**hadows**_** & R**_**ed**_** C**_**heeks**_

When I woke up, I was greeted by Aro, a doctor, and severe pain in my lower ribs.

According to Aro, Alec's carelessness with the corset had caused two major rib fractures; had he not noticed until one more pull later, said ribs would've been broken.

I apparently got off lucky for my situation. No organs were damaged, and my spine was okay but I had a good bone bruise on it.

I'd have to be in bed rest for about four weeks, and I'd probably be in pain for half of that, maybe a day or two less if I took care of myself. Luckily for me though, I was allowed to stay in my own bed and in the surprisingly comfy nightgown I had, as opposed to an ever opening hospital gown and being alone all day in a hospital-but if I was lucky I might have been able to call for help in a hospital, win-lose situation I guess.

Aro seemed to be in a forgiving mood, as he excused my poor punctuality on my first day and seemed perfectly fine with letting Annie tutor me with whatever she could for the next four weeks. Alec hadn't had the guts to show his face, but Aro assured me,

"I'll be sure to speak with him later today; he just needs to be reminded how delicate you humans are." He said, "You understand Marni, we don't often come into such… _Close _contact with humans, sometimes we do not know our own strength."

_Oh yeah that's a great comfort seeing as I'm here God knows how long, _I thought to myself.

It was probably in my best interests that I was too weak to say anything, I have this habit of living and being healthy, and honestly I had an intention of going back to that habit and keeping at it.

It came to mind that I should attempt to keep my mouth shut more, but recent release of my newly found honesty made it difficult. Perhaps that aspect of me was making up for lost time.

After about three days, it was already complete torture with or without the pain, but that was the basic catalyst for the other problems.

I had to be very careful with my breathing, as it hurt if I breathed in too deeply. I was constantly lying down and going stir crazy, because whenever I got up to just move about a little bit I was in pain or suddenly felt light-headed and had to go back to bed.

The antibiotics were horse pills and it always took a few tries before I could finally swallow, and whenever Annie tried to help me study I could never fully concentrate as I would barely be able to sleep through the night from pain.

Whatever idiot that hopes he or she gets sick to be in bed all day for a while, should come to me when I heal and I'll punch them _really _hard in the face.

"Buongiorno."

"See you later."

"Good morning." Annie said with a sigh.

"Sorry, give me another one."

"Count to twenty." She told me.

"Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dodici-" I tried.

"Good up until nine, 'dodici' means twelve, 'dieci' is ten." She explained, "Try again from nove."

I sighed and continued, "Nove, dieci… Dammit!"

Annie sighed, her patience wearing thin, but she didn't say anything about it, "Let's just try another subject. What's the second law of thermodynamics?"

"All systems become more disordered with time." I answered.

"No; In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state. Your answer was the law of entropy."

I groaned in frustration, "I'm sorry Annie. I just haven't been able to concentrate, but I'm trying-"

"I know you are Marni," she replied, "I know. You probably just need some air; you've been cooped up here for almost four days now."

I nodded and started to sit up, eager to get out of this room for even a few minutes.

"Ah!" I shrieked slightly at the sharp pain in my ribs.

"Oh, hey! Hey! Hey! Careful." Annie said, gently pushing me back down, "Okay, not a good idea-"

I argued,"No I just haven't moved a lot for a while, I-"

"No!" she said firmly, "You are clearly in pain Marni, it hasn't even been long enough to attempt this."

I sighed, "Can you pass me a pain killer from the counter over there then?"

"Okay." She went over to get it, "But this doesn't change the fact you need to rest."

"Didn't you _just _say I needed air?"

I nodded before she promptly handed me the pill, "Now I still think you need some air, but you need rest a lot more right now. If not for the fracture in your _ribs _then just to keep you from catching something. Your system is really sensitive right now, and the last thing we need is for you to get the flu or God knows what else you're lucky enough to get."

I sighed, "Okay, I'll be the good little patient and stay in bed."

"Good. I have to get to class soon, stay out of trouble."

"I will." I said as she started out, "And thanks Annie, you're being a great friend to me."

"Well," she smiled, "that's what I'm here for kid. Bye."

I waved my hand for a second and then closed my eyes, trying to sleep again. This probably would've been easy without the pain, but all I could manage was to rest my eyes.

I was peaceful for the next few minutes, until I heard the door opening and looked to see who it was.

"Noooo! Go away!" I groaned.

"I came to apologize." Alec said in a monotone-voice. I gave him a look of disbelief and replied,

"Yeah, you're all broken up about it."

"No, that'd be you at the moment." He smirked slightly.

My mouth widened for a minute and I shook my head, "You know what, you don't get to _go there_ buddy. After all, this is your _delightful _little gift."

"Well, if that's how you see it then you won't be interested in the gift I was prepared to offer you right now."

"I can only guess what it was." I said sarcastically, "An _actually _broken rib? Or five?"

"Something to take away the pain for a little while." He smiled self-importantly.

I held up the bottled water in my hand, "I took a pill already. Let the little capsules do their worst."

I took a sip of the water and lightly knocked on the wood frame of the bed for self-assurance. When I looked up Alec was sitting on the side of my bed right next to me. I jumped slightly at his sudden proximity, and then I took a breath and glared at him slightly.

"Aro suggested I use my special ability, to numb the pain for a few hours every day." He explained, "Think of it as a way to make up for your injuries."

"Oh hell no!" I cried out angrily as I pointed an accusing finger at him, "I remember that freakin' blind/deaf/mute state you put me under and I didn't appreciate it!"

He seemed unphased by my outburst and simply lifted his hand in front of mine. I started to pull it out of the way, but his other hand grabbed my wrist and held it there. A black vapor started to form from his hand and engulfed my hand. I kept trying to tug it out of his grasp failed every time; I finally noticed after a minute that while my hand was numb, the rest of me as fine.

I gave a befuddled look to Alec who replied, "I can control where it goes. I've had over a thousand years of practice."

Then he made the shadow-like vapor dissolve back into his hand and mine began to feel again. He let go of my wrist and I whipped it away from him, not liking how he decided to prove his point and also from the coldness of his hand.

I didn't like the idea of getting any kind of help from this guy, but the Ibuprofen never worked enough to help me rest properly, and at least this was a situation in which _he _was paying a debt to _me_ and not the other way around.

I sighed, "So how would this work?"

His lips came close to twitching into a smirk before he went stone-faced again, "I would come every day for the next two or three weeks, and I'd take away the pain for a few hours."

I raised my eyebrows slightly, "And this was Aro's idea? Your presence for a few hours at a time for weeks to relieve me of pain?"

"Yes."

"Sounds counterproductive to me." I muttered, "Fine, I agree."

He nodded and started to lift me up before I pushed him away, "Hey! What are you doing?"

"I need to hold you up while I do this, the area around your ribs will be completely numb, and we can't have any chances that you stop breathing because you can't feel it."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh great, not only do I have to spend hours at a time with you, but you will literally be breathing down my neck."

"I wouldn't have to breathe." He smirked slightly.

I rolled my eyes again, "Alright smart ass, proceed."

Once again, he started to lift me so I was sitting up in the bed; I felt a sharp pain in my ribs again as he did so.

"Ah!" I grabbed onto his arms as the pain shot through me and increased a little more as Alec slowly shifted my weight onto his shoulder.

He said nothing and only made sure I was up straight and not hunching over. Once he made sure of that, he placed both his hands at the sides of my lower ribs gently, and I felt the familiar numbing sensation come over me.

This time though, I welcomed it happily.

As I felt the pain subside, I felt myself starting to feel drowsy again, and this time there was no pain to stop it.

Deciding to take this opportunity for a good mid-day's sleep, I adjusted myself so I had my arms wrapped around Alec and made myself a make-shift pillow from his shoulder.

"No falling asleep." He growled slightly.

"Nope, I haven't slept in days, and it's your entire fault." I said, closing my eyes, "Now let me sleep or this is all for nothing."

I felt a low rumbling in his chest that signaled to me that he was growling, he finally replied in frustration, "Fine. But the second I feel your breathing or heart slow to much, I'm waking you up and no pain free days."

"Trust me this was anything but free." I mumbled to myself, prompting another low growl from Alec, "Lighten up, you deserved that."

He remained very still and silent, clearly not in the mood for any of my little quips or taunts- probably a good thing though to be fair.

I felt myself drift closer and closer to sleep, and I sighed with contentment at the long-awaited feeling.


	6. Chapter V Intentions

**A/N: I hope you guys all like this chapter and the new cover I made. The eyes at the bottom are mine because I couldn't find any that matched Marni's so I took a picture of mine, no I have no contacts but yes I am wearing makeup, I'll be very honest about that.**

**C**_**hapter**_** V  
I**_**ntentions**_

"You what?" Annie exclaimed in shock as I told her, Elizabeth, Maria, and Josephine about my arrangement with Alec. Maria had come to visit just as he left and then the rest, as they say, is history.

"He let me sleep while he took away to pain, granted it took some persuasion but he did and my recently deflating bags under my eyes appreciate it." I paused, "The crick in my neck will have to suffer for now."

"Touch-a, touch-a, touch me! I wanna be _diiiirty_!" Josephine sang under her breath, and then said to me grinning, "By the way, my singing this is a _completely _different subject matter from this."

I laughed slightly, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"When is he coming back?" Elizabeth asked.

I shrugged, "Sometime tomorrow."

Maria gave a knowing look to Josephine and grinned, "Probabilmente intenzione di aspettare fino a quando tutti hanno lasciato per la classe."

"Yeah he will." Elizabeth said.

"Questo sarebbe emozionante." Annie said smiling.

"What the hell are you guys saying?"

"Oh, Maria just suggested that Alec would wait for everyone to leave for you two to have some _alone _time."

My mouth widened as I laughed slightly, Maria then defended herself, "I wasn't so _suggestive _when I said alone- but yeah, she's right."

I let out a big laugh, but stopped after a second because my ribs began to hurt. Annie held my hand when she noticed and gave a sympathetic look. I managed to get through it after a minute and took a breath; I smiled at her and thanked her.

"No problem, you're a lot more appreciative then Valentina Romano."

"What happened to her?" I asked.

Maria chimed in bitterly, "Nothing she didn't deserve."

"Wow." I raised my eyebrows, "Whose this bitch?"

"Valentina is a favored title student around here." Josephine explained, "Have you seen 'Mean Girls'?"

"Of course."

"Good, now back on track." She said, "Valentina-when she used to be in this dorm- broke her arm."

Annie added, "I was assigned to help her out, like you. But _unlike_ you, she wasn't so keen to say a quick 'thanks'."

"In just how _much _of a bitch she is: Imagine every one of those girls-not just main characters- mixed with the psychological torment of Hannibal Lector, and then put into an eighteen year old girl."

"What on earth did she do to earn that description?" I exclaimed.

They all looked at each other; Maria looked particularly peeved, in fact furious, she had a similar look to the one Jane had when I back talked.

"She just- well, she's not one of the finer aspects of the school." Maria's eye twitched at Annie's explanation.

"You won't have to worry about her though." Josephine said, "She's much older then you, and takes a _very_ different class schedule-_we_ only see her every two or three classes. You probably couldn't run into her if it would save your life."

"It would do the opposite if you managed it." I heard Maria mutter.

My eyes continued to bug out of my head as this conversation continued; who could this person possibly be? They don't talk about the _Volturi _this way-granted, they're probably scared of them, but what on earth has she actually done?

"Seriously guys, what did she do? Yeah she seems ungrateful, but you're not really giving me a great example-"

"She's a cold-hearted, vain, _twisted_ BITCH!" Maria snapped, "Just _accept _that!"

I was stunned.

Maria was always very quiet and nice; it was eerie and unsettling to see her like this. This outburst did nothing but peak my interest in this topic, but being no idiot I decided to just nod and let it go for now.

"Okay." I said calmly, "I'm sorry Maria, I didn't know it upset you like this."

Tears started to fill Maria's eyes; she looked down to the floor and nodded, wiping her face, but then after a second she ran straight for the closet followed by Josephine and Annie.

I looked down at my hands awkwardly; I felt so terrible, why couldn't I just take their word for it? Because I wanted a full concrete reason to their complaints? _Four _girls are _all _agreeing with each other in their description of this person, which would've been _plenty_ to put the person on trial!

"Marni."

I looked up at Elizabeth, "Don't mention Valentina again to Maria okay? I wasn't here when it happened and _I _don't even know, but it's a really hard subject for her. You understand?"

I nodded to her, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to-"

"I know." She said, "Just, now you know so, keep your distance from it alright?"

"Yeah, no problem." I nodded again vigorously.

***Next Day- 6:47 am***

"Hold still, hold _still_."

"Ah ahnt ohi ahyair ahiff anured-"

"Okay wait." Elizabeth stopped putting lipstick on me for a second, "Now speak."

I stretched my neck out as I replied, "I said, I'm not going anywhere with injured ribs."

She sighed and shook her head smiling, "Come on, and just wait a little longer. In just a few quick swipes of-" she looked at the label of one of the lipsticks in her hands, "'Ransom Rose Red' and… 'Smitten', you'll be looking fabulous."

She proceeded back to her work; once she finished my lips, she started to take down my hair that she clipped up to do my make-up.

"I think Prof-Alec's help is doing you some good. I mean yesterday, you couldn't stay awake long enough to eat, let alone for makeup.

She was right, the sleep I got yesterday was pure Heaven. And yes, I was still tired today (partly because of how early Elizabeth made me wake up) but I actually felt like I had some energy today as opposed from yesterday.

Then again, to actually do my makeup properly without me in pain, she had taken her pillows and 'borrowed' Annie's to put behind me and make me able to sit up. I'd have to suggest this to Alec when he came.

"El, you know you don't have to do this. Shouldn't you be getting your books together or-whatever you crazy morning people do this early?"

"I will get to my own beautifying later." She said stubbornly, "You have a gentleman caller, and I will not leave this room without you looking _anything _less than gorgeous."

I laughed, "Okay, while I do appreciate the sentiment in your intentions, I will remind you that Alec is not my 'gentleman caller'. He is my, temporary- unpaid- silent- and fairly dick-ish health assistant."

"That's just a long and complicated way of saying 'boy toy'."

"That's _dirty!_" I said, my mouth making a perfect 'O'.

"Then my intentions succeeded." She smirked, "Besides you have to admit I did a wonderful job."

I looked in Elizabeth's little mirror on my bed to see her work; she really did do an impressive job. She gave me a light and bronzed sort of smoky eye, with winged eyeliner at the top and bottom of the eye- and a little in the water line that had worn off by now, my skin looked amazing, and she even made my lips look plump and pouty.

"Thank you." I said, "I just don't think it's necessary, I'm just gonna be sitting in bed all day."

"You don't wanna look good for your beau?"

"He's not my beau!" I said, my stubbornness matching her's, "Besides, this was your idea mind you, a greatly executed idea yes, but yours."

She stopped doing my hair for a second and smiled sweetly, "And you accepted."

That shut me up.

While I did think it was unnecessary and wouldn't make much difference on account of how my day would go, I didn't actually protest against actually doing make up, just it's 'hidden' intentions.

She did a little more maneuvering and then she stopped.

"Take a look."

I picked up the mirror again and saw that she did a French twist in my hair. I smiled and turned to her,

"Thank you El."

"No problem." She smiled back and hugged me gently, "Okay, I'm gonna go get some coffee and a granola bar, want one?"

"I'll take a cup of coffee thanks."

She nodded and went off to the changing area of the room. I'd recently learned that they had two or three plug-in coffee makers and their breakfast stash of granola bars, fruit, and oatmeal packets.

_So I guess the corsets aren't entirely to blame for how skinny most of these girls are._

Elizabeth and I had a cup of coffee together, chatting aimlessly as I sipped my liquid Heaven and she did her own makeup and hair. She gave herself a more Veronica Lake curled hair style, calmly highlighted her high cheekbones, defined her eyes, and put some dramatic red lipstick on.

"Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, quindici-"

"You went straight to fifteen after eleven."

"Dammit!" I sighed in frustration, "I _will _get it. Just you wait!"

"Just keep telling yourself that." She said absentmindedly as she finished her hair. "Okay, I'm done looking gorgeous. But _you _could use some more eyeliner."

"Oh, no Elizabeth." I shook my head.

"You need to freshen up."

"Just let it go, it'll look natural if it fades."

"Come on just the water line?" she pleaded.

"You have a sickness."

"Alright alright." she sighed, "I have to go and get changed now and then I have to rush out."

"It's only 7:38, doesn't your first class start at ten?"

"Yeah, but dance class is getting tough so I'm gonna go practice."

I nodded, remembering that Annie did actually mention some title students could get written permission to leave the dorms earlier than usual if they asked. They wouldn't necessarily get it, but they definitely had a better chance than a regular student asking.

"Okay. Well, addio then."

El nodded in approval as she walked off, "Addio mia sorella!"

***Around 12:30 pm***

I had been spending most of my time either staring off into space, or doing a little of my homework. It got rather dull after a while to have no options besides studying, staring, and killing myself when I had to get up to use the ladies' room.

While the journey during the last one would probably have been amusing to someone, I had less appreciation for it.

"Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, dodici…" I tried, "Crap!"

"Tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti, ventuno, ventidue, venti-tre-"

I looked to my left to see Alec entering, a passive look on his face as he counted far beyond what I was learning. He stopped abruptly at the foot of my bed.

"Too showy?"

I shook my head, "Kind of."

He nodded and sat down at my side. He seemed to take a moment to notice my appearance, or _appraising _more like. He took hold of my chin and turned my face side to side, up and down, until I finally tugged away from his cold hand.

"Alright stop!" I said, "I am not a horse or a vase at auction. I had a makeover from one of my friends, so get over it."

"Rather ungrateful aren't you? After I'm being so nice to you and helping your pain."

"Which you put me in."

"Not the point. You're still acting ungrateful."

"Well, forgive me if I don't like being prodded at like an object." I said stubbornly, "Besides, you were rather rude in your exit yesterday."

After I had fallen asleep yesterday, I had only woken up to Maria greeting Alec as he was leaving.

He went silent, not saying another word on that matter. He continued on to lift me up, a little less gently as yesterday but not bad, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders resting my head.

I once again felt the numbing sensation again, but after a second, I felt one of Alec's hands reach up and take the pins from my hair and roughly brush it out with his fingers.

"Hey what's the big idea?" I lifted my head up to face him. He had that familiar cold and calculating look on his face as he calmly replied,

"Your hair down makes it less tempting for me to kill you."

My eyebrows rose and I said, "Okay, that'll be the end of that conversation." And I let my head take it's former place on his shoulder again.

"Bambino umano." I heard him mutter.

I lifted my head again to look at him, "What did you just say?"

"If you had paid attention to Lady Annie's teachings you would know."

"I have been paying attention." I insisted.

"Then you're lacking in intelligence." He said in a high and mighty voice.

My mouth widened for a second before I shut it and threw my hand back to slap him. He caught my hand just as it was about to meet his face; I struggled with him to free my hand but he wouldn't budge.

"I would be willing to tutor you while we continue these meetings." He said, "For a small price."

I tugged my arm again to no avail, "I don't like your prices, the last time I was involved in one I ended up kidnapped and brought to Italy."

He smirked for a second and brought my hand down to sit between us, never letting go.

"Nothing so dramatic." He explained, "I only ask that you be obedient and no more childish antics such as useless attempts to injure me. This would probably suit you more than me, as you would probably break your hand if you were not stopped."

"You're breaking my hand _now._" I countered.

Smirking once more he replied, "You really should think about the benefits of my tutelage. You would be ahead of all the others, and you might gain some privileges from learning how to obey us."

"Sounds too good." I replied, "So no."

He leaned his face closer and said, "What if I told you that you could see your precious mother and sister again?"

I looked at him, his face expressionless and unreadable; I was unable to blink when he said that. I didn't like how calm he was, being unable to guess what he was thinking, which gave me the idea he was probably tricking me for some reason.

But the idea that maybe I could get out of here was tempting, too tempting. I decided to ask what he meant by that.

"If you become a title student, and you continue to impress us. You could earn visiting privileges wherever you like, with a guide for the first few times of course. And you wouldn't be able to reveal anything, but you already know that."

I finally blinked and asked, "What would you get in exchange?"

"Cooperation from you."

"What else?"

"Constant concentration."

"What else?"

"You have to sleep with me."

I glared and was about to cry out some intense profanities before he interrupted.

"I was just kidding." He smirked slightly.

"Good."

"Easier to resist without that _benefit_?"

"I wouldn't touch you with a 10 ft. pole."

"Our current predicament would suggest otherwise." We looked down at his hand gripping mine, with his arm holding my back in place.

I looked back up at him and said coldly, "It appears it's _you _who has the issue with my statement."

"Alright, if you don't want me to touch you. Fine." He started to pull his arms away and I began to go backwards.

I gasped slightly and threw my arms around his neck again, holding me up. His arms tightened again around my torso as I felt his chest rumble as he laughed for a second.

I looked him in the eye and said, "You are such an asshole!"

"The truth can sting Ms. Evans."

I groaned, "You're a fickle, fickle person." I stated, "But while I wish this quality was in a nice person, I've always liked people who stick to their guns."

"Are you saying I'm right?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No." I shook my head, "I'm saying _you _think you are and I have to respect your fighting for your beliefs. No matter how obscene they are."

"I can assume that your sudden ability to compliment me, however obscurely, is a sign of your agreement to my offer?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him; even though he was right that I was considering it, I was still suspicious, "I don't know. This offer is rather sporadic. One minute you can't stand me, the next minute you're indifferent, and now you are offering me an olive branch."

"You don't trust me." He said more as a statement then a question.

"Nope."

"Well, Ms. Evans I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from this bargain."

"Why?"

"Because," he drawled, "You are in a castle- one of the many owned by Master Aro and his brothers- secluded with walls, moats, and the best security from both human and vampires alike."

He took a good minute of looking me straight in the eyes, leaning in closely until the tips of our noses were almost touching, and he whispered,

"You wouldn't be able to leave this castle if you tried. It's the whole point of this place. So Ms. Evans, seeing as you have nothing of importance to me at the moment, and you cannot leave anyhow I see nothing I could get out of confining you even more so."

"I could be confined in a pine box."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Tempting, very true. Luckily for you, I do not plan for your demise in the foreseeable future."

I continued to narrow my eyes at him as I considered his argument.

"What do you get out of this?" I asked insistently, "You cannot convince me all you want is cooperation and fewer antics on my part. What do you _want_?"

"Well, if I can't convince you of that then we have no reason for further discussion."

I sighed, once again considering all this. I had to see my family, and maybe I could even get away faster. But I can't trust Alec; he's clearly not saying everything that needs to be said.

He may have a good poker face, but common sense dictates he's being too generous with this offer.

And then I thought; if he is playing me-and has managed to be this clever about it, then I can surely do the same to him. I've been very outspoken around him, and he knows that, if I play this right I can make him think he's the one with the upper hand while I figure out how to use this to my advantage and protect myself along the way.

All I'd have to do is make sure I continue to be outspoken without blowing my cover.

"I'll take you up on that offer." I said, his expression pleased but clearly surprised, "But I want to adjust it."

"I think you're already benefitting greatly from my original offer."

"Perhaps," I said, "but I don't trust you quite enough yet and I want some self-assurance as well as some decent rights."

He groaned and said, "What are your demands?"

"First, a piece of paper and a pencil."

He placed me gently back onto my pillows and stopped using his power on me, speeding off in a flash and returning a moment later with my required items.

"Thank you." I said taking them from his hands, "Now first off; you are not allowed to use your power on me in anyplace other than my ribs without express permission."

"Continue." He nodded.

"I am allowed at least one hour of sleep during these sessions, as they are helping my concentration in that sense." I explained, writing down my conditions one by one, "I would hope this goes without saying, but you are not allowed to injure or endanger me in _any _way."

He only nodded again, his face still unreadable, "Continue."

"In the event that I become a title student, I agree to _earn_ my privileges to see my family. However, also in this event, I demand to be allowed a passage outside the castle into town at least once every day until such a time as I am allowed to leave here forever."

He glared at me coldly, "I do not hold that power, _Ms. Evans._"

"I didn't think so," I smirked, "but as I've heard you do hold high authority, and I can only _assume _that you have significant sway with the decisions of those who _do _hold that power? Am I wrong?"

He remained silent, his appraising look forming once again, "And what else do you demand?"

I smiled proudly, gesturing with my index finger for him to come closer. He did, coming much closer then I'd anticipated, probably with intentions of making me uncomfortable. I wouldn't let this phase me and simply replied,

"Accompanied with the fact that I am entitled to call you Alec, you must call me Marni." I stopped smiling and explained, "I don't like being called Ms. Evans, and it's too formal. Marni has been my name for fourteen years and I'm quite accustomed to it. So unless it's a situation in which we are both surrounded by our peers, it is simply Marni and Alec."

He took a good full minute before responding, "I'll agree to all but three, which I would like to adjust."

"Fine. Go ahead."

He smirked, tilted his chin up and said in a superior tone, "I am only obligated to suggest your ability to leave, and certainly not once every day. More like, once every two or three days a week."

"Five days."

"Three."

"Five."

"Four."

"Done."

"And you must have an escort every time, of the Masters' choosing."

"Fine."

"I am allowed to use my power on you if it comes to a point of emergency."

"You can't endanger me." I reminded him.

"What if I am not the one endangering you?" he countered.

I sighed, "Fine. And your last adjustment?"

He paused for his last one.

"I'll stipulate to your request on names, with the exception of when we are in the process of tutoring. During which time, you shall refer to me as Professor, and I shall refer to you anyway I like."

"No." I shook my head, "If it works one way, it works both ways. If I refer to you as Alec, you refer to me as Marni. If I refer to you as Professor, you refer to me as Ms. Evans."

"Are you really going to be this stubborn about it?" His eyes clearly showing his disdain.

"Yes." I insisted, "In the very least I am entitled to my own name."

"And the names of others?" He said, slightly annoyed.

I only smirked and replied, "Yes."

He glared slightly and paused, I could practically see the wheels in his head turning as he thought.

"Agreed." He took the paper and pencil from my hands and adjusting what I had written down, I looked to make sure everything was in place before he added, "How would you like to seal it?"

"How many ways are there to do that?" I asked.

"Many. Handshake, signet rings, kissing-"

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Strike your interest?" He smirked, "Why do you think couples kiss during their wedding ceremony? They are sealing a contract."

"Handshake."

He nodded and held out his hand. I placed my hand in his and shook, but as I began to tug it away he gripped it tightly and then placed a cold but gentle kiss on the back of my hand.

I felt flushed, nervous, excited, and flattered all at the same time. But I couldn't let him know that, and so I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach and nodded.

"Thank you." I said trying to keep my voice steady.

He nodded again and stood up, "I'll be coming back here tomorrow at 12:30 sharp. Be ready."

"I shall."

He walked out the door, then paused and turned back to me, "I think Elizabeth might've put too much blush on, _Ms. Evans_."

With that he left, and my cheeks felt hotter than ever. Why didn't I see _that _coming?

When he did leave I thought about this conversation that we had, and compared it to the expectations of my friends.

_If they were ever in the same room as the two of use, they would see we couldn't possibly think of each other in that way_. I thought, _We can barely get through a few minutes without banter or without arguing._

And yet still the thought intrigued me for many reasons aside from it's obvious obsurdity.

_Alec and me? Liking each other? Even just in the tolerating sense? Wouldn't _that _be something._

***Third Person's POV***

Alec walked into the throne room of the main castle, his face indifferent, but his air carried a sense of triumph.

When Aro saw his face he was practically glowing with anticipation, and Alec's own sister had a similar curiosity.

"How was your time with our lovely Marni today, Alec?"

"Satisfying Master." Alec said proudly, "I have convinced her to strike a deal with me."

Aro's smile only widened with delight, and Jane looked as if she were trying her best not to laugh at a great joke.

"Good." Aro chirped, seating himself in his throne, "Now. Tell me, everything."

Alec nodded and dutifully walked over to his Master.

**A/N: translations-**

**Maria: Probably going to wait until everyone has left for the class.**

**Annie: That would be exciting.**

**Marni: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, fifteen**

**Marni: Okay. Well, goodbye then.**

**Elizabeth: Farewell my sister!**

**Marni: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve ...**

**Alec: Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three-**

**Alec: Human child.**


	7. Chapter VI Valentina

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you for all your reviews and support, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this new chapter and more to come.**

**But I wanted to inform you all, that there is a person on fanfiction that used my name as a temporary name to review someone else's work on this site. I won't get into details, but this person was not displaying constructive criticism and for lack of a better term right now was downright mean.**

**At the end of the comment, they told the author to take a look at this story for 'future writing'.**

**And needless to say the author was rightfully upset by this comment and through a misunderstanding thought **I **had been the one to review and call my work better then her's. However I explained that I didn't write it, and I didn't even agree with the review itself, so hopefully I made my point.**

**But I want you all to know, that while I appreciate all comments good or bad and the support you've given me so far, I must ask that whenever you do review something-be it one of my stories or otherwise-: even if you did not like the story, try not to bash it and instead be constructive and say "I did not like A B and C because o and G." Be helpful and considerate to that person.**

**We are all here on this site to have fun and to practice writing, so please be sure to give constructive criticism and understand that we are all trying to enjoy ourselves by writing and reading. **

**If you don't like something because it isn't your style, that's fine, you don't have to read it, this isn't school. **

**But if you don't like something because you didn't think something worked with another, or if something wasn't explained, or maybe you thought it was a little too weird for the genre BE CONSTRUCTIVE! Don't just call something crap and move on, because remember that whatever you review was written by someone who is really trying to make something great and they might happen to really care about their story. Just take the time to go through a point by point reason you thought it wasn't all it could've been, but also be willing to suspend some disbelief just for the sake of everyone's sanity.**

**Seriously, a good majority of the stuff you and I read is probably based in supernatural realities, realism is not always gonna be there.**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**C**_**hapter**_** VI  
V**_**alentina**_

Since Alec and I had made the 'contract'-which we had quickly signed before the handshake, I had been looking over it frantically studying every word.

I was trying to find anything that he could possibly use to screw me over, or vise versa. Whether or not he would actually use anything I might find was negligible, all I wanted was to know the possibilities be them likely or otherwise.

This was the actual contract that Alec wrote once we agreed on the terms:

**CONTRACT**

**Date 11/1/13 **

**Rules and Guidelines for both parties for tutoring sessions for ****Volturi's Studies of Educational Graces**** (V.S.E.G.) in regards to behavior, goals, etc. etc. Contract statements regarding tutoring sessions become negligent 12/10/13, or when tutoring sessions officially end.**

**Party of the 1****st**** Part: Professor Alec, Highest Rank Volturi Guard and V.S.E.G. Teacher.**

**Party of the 2****nd**** Part: Marni Kathleen Evans, Newest Student of V.S.E.G.**

**I. The Party of the 1****st**** Part is obligated to tutor the Party of the 2****nd**** Part in all subjects she is scheduled for at the present time.**

** A. Party of the 1****st**** Part promises to teach to the best of his ability**

** B. Party of the 1****st**** Part is obligated to tutor in ALGEBRA I, SCIENCE, HISTORY, ECONOMICS & SOCIAL STUDIES, ITALIAN, BEGINNER DANCE, DINING ETIQUETTE, CONVERSATION & SPEECH, RULES & GUIDELINES.**

** 1. Any subjects that are found by either party to be temporarily unable to be taught or learned shall e ignored until both parties are capable of participation.**

** a. Any numbers of days missed because of Section I, Clause B, Point 1 are to be made up for before tutoring can be officially stopped.**

**II. The Party of the 2****nd**** Part must show obedience in regard to her tutoring sessions with the Party of the 1****st**** Part.**

** A. Disobedience is a direct violation of this contract; See Section VIII.**

**III. In the event the Party of the 2****nd**** Part becomes a title student, she shall be given positive representation in her desires to 1.) See her family 2.) Access to weekly trips to town, during her stay by the Party of the 1****st**** Part.**

** A. Party of the 2****nd**** Part shall only be allowed this benefits if she continues excellent work status, behavior, etc. etc.**

** B. Party of the 1****st**** Part is not obligated to give the Party of the 2****nd**** Part said desires, only supportive representation to the Volturi in her quest to acquire them.**

** 1. The Party of the 1****st**** Part is not obligated to give anything to the Party of the 2****nd**** Part that is not within his power or right to give.**

** C. Same regulations for title students apply to the Party of the 2****nd**** Part in regards to any temporary absence from school grounds.**

** 1. Party of the 2****nd**** Part is allowed only a maximum of four days out of every week she is allowed to visit town.**

** a. Party of the 2****nd**** Part is required to have an escort during all trips to town.**

** b. Time in which the party of the 2****nd**** part shall spend in town shall be determined by the Volturi before each outing.**

**IV. The Party of the 1****st**** Part is strictly forbidden from using his ability of sense deprivation on the Party of the 2****nd**** Part. However, he may use said ability on her damaged ribs at anytime during these sessions.**

** A. In the unlikely event in which the Party of the 2****nd**** Part is endangered by someone other than the Party of the 1****st**** Part, he is free to use his ability as he pleases on her.**

**V. The Party of the 1****st**** Part cannot actively endanger or injure the Party of the 2****nd**** Part.**

**VI. The Party of the 2****nd**** Part is allowed 1 hour of sleep during each session.**

** A. This benefit is only allowed before or after any work during each session.**

**VII. At the beginning of each session, both parties shall decide to address each other as either "Professor" & "Ms. Evans" or "Alec" & "Marni" for the rest of each session.**

** A. Party of the 1****st**** Part addressing the Party of the 2****nd**** Part as "Ms. Evans" when at the beginning it had been decided as "Marni" (or vise versa) for that session, or vise versa, is a direct violation of this contract; See Section VIII.**

**VIII. Both parties are licensed the right of "Quid Pro Quo" in the event either violates an aspect(s) of this contract.**

The only part that really struck me as odd was Section VIII.

I knew what Quid Pro Quo meant, or in the very least I had a good idea. It was your basic 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine' sort of deal. However, it looked strange in the context that it was in.

And so I decided to ask Annie about it; when she came back from her classes for free time, she looked over the contract very carefully and looked fairly concerned.

"So, is there anything funky in there that I didn't notice?"

She looked cautious, almost scared, but put on a calm professional stance as she replied,

"No."

"Annie." I said, giving her a look.

"Really there's nothing." She paused looking intently at the piece of paper in her hands, "It's just-I've never heard of a Volturi member becoming an active tutor for a student, much less a newcomer-no offense just-"

"I know." I nodded reassuringly to her, "I was pretty shocked myself, that's why I added so much for my benefit to try and make sure there'd be no funny business."

"Yeah-Yes, I uh." She cleared her throat, "I can see that. Four trips to town every week?"

"Yeah, I wanted the ability to leave for town whenever I liked when I didn't have class, but Alec haggled me down to just four available days I can leave with an escort for a certain time."

"Where would you find the time for this?" Annie asked, "Even if you become a title student, hours are still pretty long until you're almost a junior, you wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time in town."

"Well, I know, but I figure I can use the extra free time scheduled Thursdays through Fridays. Besides, the real point of it was to gain some authority from it, you know, like I'm basically saying 'I'm here and I have my own rights to things'."

"I see." She said, more to herself, "Marni, I have to go, my next class is coming up soon. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No I'll be fine." I shook my head, "Thanks."

"No problem, see you during inspection." She said rushing out.

She hadn't even closed the door before she ran into someone in the hallway, at least, that's what it sounded like from the clatter.

"Lady O'Leary," said a heavily Italian-accented voice, "Shouldn't you be off licking the Masters' shoes clean?"

I heard a small collection of giggling from some other unseen people.

"I'm sorry Lady Ro-"

"No you're not." The voice replied, "The term 'sorry' implies you are truly remorseful for your wrong. However, I find that you are incapable of restraining yourself when it comes to 'plowing me down' as you American girls say."

"I don't mean to-"

"So you claim to be such a clumsy fool, instead of a rude little bootlicker that you are-"

"Hey! Bitch!" I yelled, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on, "She apologized, move on! I don't even think you deserved that apology!"

There was a moment of silence before a girl walked into the room, Annie close behind her with a hurt and worried look on her face.

The girl that had entered was tan skinned, tall, medium dull-colored black hair that was sleek and pin straight and in a half up half down style. She had light brown eyes that were surrounded by very bold eyeliner, and lips that were pouty looking and had gold lipstick over them.

This girl was thin, about the same as most of the girls here, but even with the puffy skirt and corseted uniform you could tell she was very banana-shaped figure wise. But I had to consent to the fact that her makeup was very pretty and she had toned arms.

She had her arms daintily placed in front of her as she glared down at me, her face almost calculating but still held a look of school-girl disdain.

"So you must be Miss Marni K. Evans." She curtsied slightly, though seemed reluctant to do so.

"I must." I said sarcastically, "And you must be Lady Bitch-Fit."

"Ms. Evans!" Annie hissed slightly, clutching her books nervously as she looked between us.

Yeah I could've done better than that, but I'm not the greatest with comebacks.

The girl let out a humorless laugh and continued to glare at me. She sat down at the side of my bed with a very pandering and annoyed look on her face, like she was scolding a child or something.

"Listen very closely to me little one." She said in a soft voice, "I have no issue in taking this conversation to Master Aro himself, I am the best title student in this academy and I have proven so many times over. You are nothing but an ignorant little bitch with a death wish."

"I am not going to tell Aro about this though." She smiled, as if she had won something, "Consider this a friendly warning. And welcome to the school."

With that she pushed herself away from me and with her head held high walked back to her little fan girls by the door. On her way to the door she directed herself in such a way she made Annie have to stumble back into the door in order to stay out of the way.

When the bitch left my first thought was,

_Christ Almighty! I thought bitches like that were just exaggerated for comedy skits!_

This woman was the very embodiment of every bitch that has ever existed! I didn't think that a human being could actually utter any of the sentences she actually said just now and to _Annie _of all people?! I mean what the crap was that about!?

When she finally left I turned to Annie and asked, "Who the hell was that bitch?"

She sniffled slightly as she slowly walked closer to me; as she got closer I saw the hurt look on her face clearer and I suddenly was less interested in the bitch-but she had made a _wonderful _impression on my hate list.

"Oh hey, come here sweetie, right now." I said awkwardly as I reached my arms out to Annie.

She sniffled a little more and sat down next to me, accepting as I wrapped my arms around her into a tight hug.

"Thanks." She mumbled sadly into my shoulder.

"No problem." I said, rubbing her upper back slightly as a gesture of comfort, "Annie, what she said isn't true, you know that. She's just some stupid bitch who won't pick on someone her own size."

She didn't seem very convinced and sniffled some more, "Thank you Marni, but-uh, I gotta go.

She pulled away and rushed back out again as she wiped some small tears under her eyes.

_Okay, _I thought, _Next time this bitch and I meet and I am not temporarily incapacitated; among other things, I am going to punch her and kick her REALLY hard in the face!_

No one had ever made me this angry, not even my sisters, but this bitch made number 1 on the list in a heartbeat.

Think on that people, this bitch that I just met was neck and neck with a vampire pain in the ass who broke my ribs.

Might as well give her applause right now, I got nothing, you win this round bitch.

***8 pm***

Soon enough came Jane's brief inspection of the dorms, but this time she was accompanied by Alec. Contrary to recent events, Alec very rarely accompanies her during these inspections, it generally only happened when they had to discuss something during.

The inspection ended almost as quickly as it started, but instead of immediately leaving with Jane at the end like he was supposed to, Alec walked right up to me and sat down at the side of my bed.

Other girls in the room were all a bit nervous and seemed hesitant at first to go on with anything they generally did after inspection, and they watched us pretty closely as if waiting for a bomb to go off.

"Lady Romano has recently informed me that you addressed her in a very unflattering manner."

"Lady Romano?" I asked, "Are you by any chance referring to the tall Italian bitch that called Annie a bootlicker?"

He raised an eyebrow at my question and replied, "Is that what she said?"

I nodded vigorously, "The whiny little bitch also referred to me as an ignorant little bitch with a death wish."

"Very well said." He laughed slightly.

I felt my jaw tense as I glared at him "Was the point of your visit to be kicked in the nuts? Cause I'll do it."

"I'd love to see you try." He sneered, "I came to hear your side of the story, since Lady Romano accused you of calling her such things as 'Lady Bitch-Fit'?"

I nodded, "Yeah, she bumped into Annie when she was leaving the dorm for class and started accusing her of being clumsy, that she was bumping into her on purpose, and 'greeted' her by asking why she wasn't off licking Aro's shoes clean."

Unlike when we began this conversation though, Alec no longer seemed surprised in anyway, in fact her looked _bored_!

"Thank you for your input, I'll speak to Lady Romano tomorrow morning about her behavior." He said, standing up.

"That's it?" I asked, "You don't seem surprised about any of this? This bitch needs detention-or whatever the hell you people have."

Suddenly Alec's face was right in front of mine, emotionless and cold.

"Be careful what you wish for Ms. Evans." He whispered, "Until tomorrow.

And then he left. Jerk.

The first person to talk to me afterwards was Maria, followed by Josephine.

"You met Valentina Romano?" Maria asked.

"I'm pretty sure."

"And you called her a bitch to her face?"

"Yes." I paused for a second, "She was being a bitch to Annie for no reason, I should've punched her when I had the chance."

"No Marni-" Josephine started, but was immediately cut off by Maria.

"Yeah, you should've." After a few seconds of her very serious face, she finally smiled and hugged me before going off to change.

Wow. This entire day has be _incredible _on so many levels. I just met the girl who Regina George has a holy shine dedicated to.

This day is just plain weird!

All I gotta say right now is: All hail Valentina! May all lesser bitches bow down before her!


End file.
